ACL Tear Greater Park Hills, MO. ACL tears have a tremendous effect on your active and daily routine. You go from having a blast in a sport or playing with your kids, to suddenly wondering whether you’ll get to play or even go back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Park Hills, MO, we have committed our practice to restoring our patients’ mobility and returning them to the activities they love. Our ACL tear rehabilitation specialists work with you as a team and put in place tailored, evidence-based treatment plans. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Park Hills, MO, contact us online or check out the most convenient Axes location for you. Our priority is getting every patient a positive outcome and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means burning corners in your local Park Hills, MO flag football league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Park Hills, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible fibrous tissue that connect two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to keep your knee stable by attaching your tibia (shinbone) to your femur (thigh bone). The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, runs down the center of your knee and forms an “X” with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The ACL and PCL work in concert to control the front and back motion of your knee, and the ACL prevents the tibia from sliding too far forward on the femur and provides rotational stability.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your ability to put weight on your knee and range of motion will be lowered. Regardless of how significant your injury, trust in the Park Hills, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Park Hills, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide annually, and it is one of the most common knee injuries and sports injuries. They are common in contact sports that demand frequent and rapid cutting and changing directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction quickly, and the rest are due to direct blunt force trauma. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your motion is obstructed just before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing with improper form
• Being hit by something or someone
• Suddenly decelerating or switching direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Suffering a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These have to do with the structure and anatomy of the body. Examples include:

• The differences in anatomy between men and women
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• Differences in genetics

While many ACL tears happen in sports, they are also common in falls and work-related injuries. They can become more common as we age and our bodies weaken. Women are 4-6 times more likely to suffer an ACL tear, likely because of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Park Hills, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, the pain will likely be in the middle of the knee. You might not necessarily feel considerable pain after an ACL tear except if other parts of the knee were also injured. Some indicators that you may have torn your ACL are:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to cease activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Reduction of range of motion
• Not being able to put any weight on your knee

If you suspect you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s necessary to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Park Hills, MO to verify your injury and start the treatment you need to recover. We offer free, no-obligation injury screenings and work with many trusted physicians in Park Hills, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist is an essential part of your recovery team, working closely with you and your doctors and medical providers to collaborate on your safe and efficient recovery.

ACL Tear Treatments | Park Hills, MO Physical Therapy

It is vital to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can cause health conditions such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact how you live your life.

Immediately after your ACL tear, it’s best to use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to mitigate pain and inflammation. In an examination, a doctor will assess your mobility, and likely order an MRI to verify the ACL tear and assess the severity of the injury.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear cannot heal on its own. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to return to the activities you love. Surgery is the only means available to completely heal an ACL tear. So, surgery is often recommended for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to perform, patients with other serious injury to other parts of their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in basic, everyday tasks. In an ACL surgery, a surgeon will remove the torn ACL, take a graft from another one of your or a donors tendons, and use small incisions to attach it to the bones.

Once the new ligament is attached, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you’ll likely need crutches to move around, as your quadriceps muscles will have weakened. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Park Hills, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will guide you through your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Mitigate pain and swelling
• Provide patient education so you understand your injury and why our methods work
• Gradually and effectively allow you to put weight on your knee again
• Fit you for a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
• Do strength exercises to increase strength
• Possibly utilize electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the knowledgeable Park Hills, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your recovery, you have the greatest chance of a complete and timely recovery. Before you know it, we will return you to tearing up the local softball league, or just enjoying being able to to sit down and stand up without any pain.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Park Hills, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can result in life-long consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Park Hills, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear in the future. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Strengthen your core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice correct form, for example always landing with your feet directly over your knee
• Stretch consistently
• Increase your balance
• Perform warm-up exercises before sports or other physical activities
• Make sure you are using appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists devote themselves not only to retuning you to the activities you love, but doing what we can to make sure that you can carry on doing them without being upended by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Park Hills, MO are:

• Physical Therapy Clinic
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

ACL Tear in Park Hills, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to experience anxieties about your prognosis and road to recovery after being seriously injured. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, you probably want to get back to your normal, active lifestyle as quickly as possible. Trust in the knowledgeable professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work with you to design a proven, personalized rehabilitation plan to return you to the basketball court, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.